The Open University is considering establishing a new “sustainable green” campus and offering face-to-face classes.
A business model for the relocation of the organizational unit to the center of Milton Keynes, next to the train station, is currently being developed.
The proposal also provides for a “sister university” for people wishing to study face-to-face courses.
Since 1969, the Open University has offered distance learning to more than 2.3 million students.
The multi-million pound proposal is described as a “smart, accessible and energy-efficient campus” on land owned by the Milton Keynes Development Partnership.
It would include scientific laboratories, study rooms, studios, a library and a student center.
One of the Open University’s selling points is its flexible distance learning style.
Almost three quarters of the 200,000 students also have a full or part-time job.
It is the largest university in Great Britain and has been based at Walton Hall in the suburbs of Milton Keynes since it opened in 1969.
OU Vice Chancellor Professor Tim Blackman said: “While Walton Hall remains an option for the future, our planning is focused on what additional benefits a new city center location could bring.”
He added: “A purpose built campus in the heart of a thriving business community just half an hour’s train ride from London, Cambridge, Oxford and the Midlands is an opportunity to redesign our facilities and offerings for decades to come.”
The business case will include ideas from the city council, as well as local businesses and communities, to explore how the campus “could better meet the future needs of the OU and the students’ needs for future skills,” the Open University said.
Milton Keynes City Council Chairman Pete Marland said: “Moving OU downtown is potentially transformative.”
He said it could create “another world-class higher education opportunity” with dual benefits, “meaning our young people don’t have to move to study and we can attract students from all over the world.”
Nicola Sawford, Chair of MKDP, said they were “extremely excited” to be working with the OU “to transform higher education in the city centre”.
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